Nancy Montgomery. Photo by David Plechl.

Local community theater maven Nancy Montgomery wrestled for weeks with the process of naming five definitive choices for “Take 5.” “I can’t really trust that readers would find what I like interesting,” she mused. She’s looking forward to “Spring Awakening” – “powerful, visceral teenage angst,” she calls it. “I expect it to be very satisfying.”

“9 Parts of Desire” by Heather RaffoPowerful, touching, revealing portraits of nine Iraqi women, written by a blond bombshell of an Iraqi-American. We know nothing about the women in the images we see on TV about the Middle East. It’s a foreign culture. But through the course of this play, we see such varied women behind the veils, and recognize each one. Seeing their stories, it’s poetry, it’s accessible, it’s modern, it’s real. And it’s us, but in a different country.

“True West” by Sam ShepherdA crazy journey for two grown, estranged brothers, all taking place in their mother’s kitchen while she’s away (well, they venture out, but we don’t see it, just the results of it …). Sam Shepherd’s best-known play? You can rent a great version of it with John Malkovich and Gary Sinise.

“The Laramie Project” by Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater ProjectThe puzzle-piece presentation of about 25 people who were interviewed in Laramie, Wyo., the town where a college student was beaten and left to die because he was gay. The script presents all their voices interspersed: for, against, confused, disgusted by one take, disgusted by the other. A controversial issue widely presented. Though some would say otherwise, the script draws a precarious line where each production’s choices can change how it presents information for the audience to absorb or dictate how they should feel.

“Vita & Virginia” by Eileen AtkinsPaints portraits of two powerful women of their time, and each one’s romance/love/respect each for the other, powerful both in their immediate presence in a room and in their lasting presence through their literature, especially Virginia Woolf’s. Gorgeous. Funny. Striking. Poignant.

“Into the Woods” by Stephen Sondheim and James LapineFive to eight fairy tales, intertwined into one. Act 2 goes beyond “happily ever after …” Wry, insightful, moving, very funny – Stephen Sondheim at his best – OK, at my favorite. Yes, better than “Sweeney Todd.” The complicated story line (very plot driven) has more to offer.